Corporate isn't evil.

I love coffee. I thank God for coffee whenever I drink it. I make it at home; I buy it at coffee houses. I will even buy it at 7-Eleven when the mood strikes me. I'm no coffee snob—although I really don't like Folger's; there's just something about that brand I don't care for. Maybe it's their “flavor crystals,” but I just don't like the taste.

So I went to this one coffeehouse where they have some anti-Starbucks bumper stickers on the wall. The sticker in question has the Starbucks logo, probably in violation of copyright, and “Friends don't let friends drink corporate coffee.”

Temper, temper.

Some folks like developing a reputation as a difficult person.

There’s a person I met on this campus who insists that they’s not all together there. They insist that there’s something wrong with them; that they could just snap at any time. Yet I’ve seen nothing in their behavior which indicates this is true. In fact, I’m largely wondering if any of it is true.

The proper use of apologetics.

Ever read Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell? It’s every high school student’s first introduction to apologetics. Youth pastors love it because whenever someone smart-aleck high school kid has a tough question for them, they can whip out their Josh McDowell and beat him over the head with it. McDowell’s a youth pastor, you know; he had a very practical reason for creating the book.

I like the book. Parts of it are questionable, of course; McDowell’s grasp of Aristotelean logic is shaky in a few parts; he’s awfully fond of the straw man argument, as many Christians are, and for some bizarre reason he quotes a comment by Napoleon Bonaparte more than once about Jesus. He’s pretty sure his big mound of evidence proves that Christianity and Scripture are true, and confronted with this evidence, people should just drop to their knees and accept Jesus as Lord.

Finding a church.

Originally published on my Geocities website “Kent’s Rants.” Technically my first blog post.

I am trying to find a church. I moved to Scotts Valley for school, my home church is all the way back in Vacaville, and Christians are not supposed to go it alone. (That’s how cults start.) So I need a local place of worship.

I realize that, by confessing this, I’ve opened myself up to a lot of emails from well-meaning Christians who think their church is the greatest ever so I should go there. I appreciate the kindness, but there’s no guarantee that I’m going to agree with you once I get to your church. See, I’m looking for a certain thing; one that’s lacking in a lot of Christians, and therefore lacking from a lot of churches. I’m looking for a friendly church.

I haven’t found one yet because I keep going to churches with college students in them. Hang on; I’ll explain this statement soon. But first you should understand that statistically young adults aren’t friendly. They haven’t learned how to be friendly yet. They will someday, when they’re older. But currently they’re growing up, and they’re self-focused and self-centered, and heavily insulated with friends. So instead of being friendly with new people, they’re busy talking with their friends, and I don’t happen to be one of their friends, so I can go to hell for all they care.